Oh, Fine. Orlando Bloom is Confirmed for The Hobbit

Not all that glitters is gold

It’s been rumored for a while now, but Peter Jacksonconfirmed only a couple of hours ago that Orlando Bloom will be reprising his role as Legolas in his adaptation of The Hobbit.

Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas. I’m excited to announce today that we’ll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more. I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again. Funny thing is, I look older—and he doesn’t! I guess that’s why he makes such a wonderful elf.

You may now react to this in any way you like. There’s no wrong way to feel about Legoas appearing in The Hobbit, whether he was a childhood crush or a character you sneered at because everyone around you had a crush on him. Likely, he’ll just be a cameo. Hopefully he’ll just be a cameo.

I’m just saying, Legolas doesn’t canonically appear in The Hobbit, although we know from the other books set in J.R.R. Tolkein’s world that he was there somewhere in the background. His father, King Thranduil, features prominently as the leader of the Mirkwood elves.

In a related note, Thranduil will be portrayed by Lee Pace, who is two years younger than Bloom.

But it’s comforting to note that it’s never indicated in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings that Legolas and Bilbo were friends or more than simply aware of each other’s existence, so hopefully we can rule out a “Legolas helps Bilbo and the dwarves escape from Mirkwood’s dungeons” plot detour.